No Going Back
by saragillie
Summary: Jupiter decides not to go back to the clinic.


**AN: This story was inspired by the second Jupiter Ascending Fic Challenge.**

"What do you mean, you're busy?" Jupiter demands. "They told me that I wouldn't be able to drive myself home."

"Zeno is sick. I have to cover for him today," Vladie replies. "You'll figure it out." Then he walks out the door.

She makes a face at his retreating back.

In the end, she calls and cancels the appointment. No way is she asking somebody to pick her up from a fertility clinic. She's not exactly sad not to be going. Despite the fact that she really wants to buy that telescope, the literature was creepy and the clinic had weird vibes. Maybe she won't reschedule.

The next week she comes down with a summer cold and her Mom and Nino clean Katharine's condo while she stays in bed.

The week after that, the three of them go to Katharine's building like usual. A prickle runs up her neck while she walks from the station wagon into the building. Is someone watching her? She scans the area. Nothing looks out of place.

Little grey creatures surprise her while she's scrubbing the toilet and immobilize her in seconds. One of the grey things makes a funny chirping noise, pulls out a strange gun syringe and sticks it in her neck.

She might not be able to move, but she can still talk. "Help! Please, somebody…" she screams at the top of her lungs.

The gun turns blue, the grey thing chirps again, and a light glows on its wrist.

The door bursts open and a black blur starts shooting the grey creatures, starting with one with the glowing wrist. In a few seconds they lie still and the blur resolves into the strangest looking man she's ever seen. His ears are large and pointy at the top, and he's wearing black eyeliner.

He plucks her out of the air and she has control of her limbs again. "Are you alright?" he asks and she notices that his teeth are extra pointy.

The whole thing seems surreal. "Who are you?"

"I'm Caine Wise. I'm here to help you. We need to get out of here fast." And he strides toward the door still carrying her.

When she starts to struggle, he puts her down gently and then grabs her hand. It feels small and delicate in his larger calloused one. "There are things you need to know, but I need to get you to a safe place first. It won't be long before more Keepers show up."

She's still kind of dazed, so she follows when he tugs her out the door. "Wait, what about my mom and Nino? Are they okay?"

"It's you they want. The farther away you are from here, the safer they are."

Since she doesn't have any better ideas, she stays with him. She can always leave later.

Once they're out of the building, he moves rapidly down the street with long strides. She clutches his hand and tries not to stumble as she lopes half a step behind him.

They wend their way through the streets making frequent turns, but after the first three blocks or so he slows enough that she can walk beside him. He's silent as they traverse the next four or five blocks.

Her breathing becomes erratic as she relives the emotions of the past few minutes: surprise then overwhelming fear. Her hands start to tremble and her gut churns as the delayed reaction takes hold.

"We're almost there," he informs her. She's not sure if it's because he noticed her trembling hands or not, but she takes a deep breath and pushes the emotions away. She can fall apart later, preferably in a safe private place and not in the middle of a busy Chicago street.

To distract herself, she glances down at their clasped hands and then up at his face. He's one of the most attractive men she's seen off the silver screen and they're holding hands. The people they're passing probably think they're a couple. The thought both pleases her and freaks her out.

Wait. He looks normal. Did she imagine the ears? She trips over a crack in the sidewalk. He steadies her and they walk on.

She opens her mouth to ask him about it, even though it will make her sound weird, but he speaks first. "We're here."

She surveys the building skeptically. The skyscraper is surrounded by a fence. A sign in front of her proclaims that hard hats are required for entrance. "Your safe place is a construction site?"

He nods and slips inside the gate. "Most of the work is done. It's structurally sound."

She debates whether or not to follow him. She doesn't know anything about him except his name, the dubious evidence of her eyes, and that he's considerate enough to walk at her speed. Until now, they've been in public places but he's asking her to follow him into a building that looks deserted. If it was evening instead of broad daylight, it could be the beginning of a horror flick.

On the other hand, where else can she go? Those creatures found her at her work. Maybe they know her home too? And her favorite coffee shop?

She doesn't know if she should trust this man, but she's certain those creatures are up to no good. Nobody would ever think to look for her here.

When he realizes she hasn't followed him, he turns toward her. "I mean you no harm," he promises. With surprise, she realizes she believes him.

His claim about the building seems to be true, since they take the elevator. During the ride, she stands as far from him as possible.

She glances around the unfinished room and notices a blanket on the floor near and some strange looking equipment on a table. She looks back at him. Caine. He told her his name was Caine.

Caine moves his hand from his neck and the pointy ears are back.

"Holograph." He answers the question before she can ask.

So she asks her next question. "What happened back there with those things?"

"They're called Keepers, from the Diorite system. They've been genetically altered to act as monitors. They were trying to kill you."

Almost none of that makes sense, so she focuses on the one thing that does. "Kill me? Why?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. But they found you because you went to the clinic. Their test tripped the monitor to your geneprint. When you didn't return for the appointment, they started watching Katharine's house, hoping to find you. I've been looking for you too."

She stares at him in astonishment. "Looking for me?"

He nods. "There's at least one other group too. They looked like bounty hunters to me."

Jupiter's eyes widen and her jaw drops. "I… wait… no. None of this makes any sense."

"The explanation is long. I know your name's not Katharine. What should I call you?"

Should she give him a false name? He's been kind to her, but he did kill three of those grey creatures so he's capable of violence.

She's trusted him enough to come into an empty building with him. With a mental shrug, she offers him her hand. "I'm Jupiter. Nice to meet you, Caine."

"Jupiter, there's no way this is gonna be easy for you and there's really no way to ease into it. Your planet isn't the only inhabited planet in the universe."

She stares at him in disbelief. "Either you're crazy or I'm dreaming."

"That's what the Legion protocols say that Terrsies, or people from underdeveloped worlds, usually say. There are so many planets out there that you don't even have a number to count them with. Seems to me that it's crazier to think that this is the only planet in the universe inhabited by an intelligent species. You've already seen two species of aliens today."

It takes her a minute to process his last statement. The Keepers were aliens and… "So wait. Are you telling me you're an alien?"

He nods. "Technically, I'm a genomgineered human, a Lycantant. My DNA is a mix of human DNA and the DNA of a creature like a wolf. I was created for military service, but that didn't work out so well."

"So instead you came looking for me?"

"Titus Abrasax hired me to find you and take you to him."

She stares at him hard. He's a half-wolf man from space who is supposed to take her some unknown space guy? This is beyond surreal and getting into X-Files territory. Maybe she should just go home. "What if I go home?"

"They'll keep coming after you until they succeed in killing you."

Maybe visiting the space guy is a better choice than certain death. "How would we get there?"

He places a device on the window and shows her how it temporarily dematerializes a large section of the glass. Then he demonstrates his boots by floating a few inches off the ground.

"You can fly with those boots?" she asks in astonishment.

"No, they use the force of gravity. It's kind of like surfing."

A blue beam appears outside of their window. "Our ride's here."

"And I'm supposed to step out of a skyscraper with you and some flying boots?"

While she's speaking he scoops her up and steps out of the window. They drop for a sickening second before the beam catches them and they start to ascend. Jupiter gazes across the city, enjoying the view until Caine swears and tells her to hold on.


End file.
